"The Jets will win on Sunday, I guarantee it"...
That was the actual quote Joe Namath became immortal for, just a few days before his boast brought victory to the New York Jets in Super Bowl III. Namath appearing at the Miami Touchdown Club responded to a rowdy Colts fan who claimed the Colts would easily defeat the Jets. This was not a bold statement given that the Colts were installed as anywhere from 17 to 20 points better than the Jets...
Super Bowl III was played on January 12, 1969 at the Orange Bowl in Miami and in one of the biggest upsets in sports history, the Jets stunned the Colts 16-7 to become the 1st AFL team to win the Super Bowl. Joe Namath would be named the game's MVP...
If, like most of us, you were watching the game on NBC, you were part of the whopping 36.0 Nielsen Ratings registered for the classic upset. The market share was an equallly whopping 71%. For the first time, famous celebrities appeared for the ceremonies that started when Bob Hope led a pregame affair honoring the Apollo astronauts for their recently completed mission, the first manned flight around the moon. Anita Bryant sang the naitonal anthem while the Florida A&M band performed the "America Thanks" halftime show. Curt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis and Kyle Rote, one of the best all-time play-by-play teams called the game which featured 30-second commercials at a cost of a measly $55,000 per spot...
Some personal memories of meeting Joe Namath, in my commentary...
More January 12 Memories...
1915) The U.S. House of Representatives rejects a proposal to give women the right to vote (obviously Gloria Steinem wasn't born yet)...
1949) "Arthur Godfrey and His Friends" debuts on CBS-TV (the show stays on the network for 10 years)...
1957) Elvis Presley records "All Shook Up" at a Hollywood studio...
1958) The NCAA adopts the 2-point conversion option after touchdowns (although the AFL used this rule, the NFL waited for more than 3 decades before implementing the rule in 1994)...
1959) Berry Gordy borrows $800 to start Motown Records...
1963) Steve Lawrence is #1 with "Go Away Little Girl"...
1965) "Hullabaloo" premieres on NBC-TV (the show will run through August 29, 1966)...
1966) "Batman" debuts on ABC-TV...
1968) The Supremes play a group of nuns on an episode of "Tarzan" on NBC-TV (why not ? They could've walked on water back then)...
1969) The Jets upset the Colts in Super Bowl III (feature story)...
1971) The Archie Bunker era begins as "All in the Family" debuts on CBS-TV (the sitcom becomes "Archie's Place" in 1979 when the action shifts from the Bunker's living room to a bar owned by Archie)...
1974) "The Joker" by the Steve Miller Band is #1...
1975) The Pittsburgh Steelers win their 1st Super Bowl after 42 years in the NFL, 16-6 over the Minnesota Vikings at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans...
1976) Mystery writer Agatha Christie dies at 85...
1981) "Dynasty", a prime time soap inspired by "Dallas" premieres on ABC-TV (the show lasts 8 seasons)...
1985) After 24 weeks at the top of the album charts, Prince slips to #2 with "Purple Rain". The LP that replaces it ? Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA"...
1986) The Patriots are headed to their 1st Super Bowl after beating Miami 31-14 in the AFC championship game (they will play and lose to the Chicago Bears in SB XX)...
1995) The Allman Brothers, Al Green, Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Martha & the Vandellas, Neil Young and Frank Zappa are all inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
1997) The Patriots win the AFC championship with a 20-6 victory over Jacksonville (the Pats play Green Bay in SB XXXI and lose)...
1998) Linda Tripp provides Kenneth Starr's office with taped conversations between herself and Monica Lewinsky (oops!)...
1999) Mark McGwire's 70th home run ball is sold at auction for $3 million to an anonymous bidder (it'll be interesting to see if McGwire, eligible for Hall of Fame voting next year, gets in)...
2000) Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills is killed in a drag race...
2003) AOL Time Warner chairman Steve Case announces his resignation...
2003) Following emergency abdominal surgery, Maurice Gibb dies of cardiac arrest at a Miami Beach hospital at 53...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1910) Luise Rainer (who won back-to-back oscars for "The Great Ziegfeld" & "The Good Earth")...
1926) Ray ("For The Good Times") Price...
1935) The Amazing Kreskin (who will celebrate by guessing cards picked at his birthday party)...
1944) Joe Frazier...
1951) Kirstie Alley (who will celebrate by eating everything not on the Jenny Craig diet)...
1951) The former Jeff Christie, Rush Limbaugh...
1954) Howard Stern (who will celebrate by counting his money & stock from Sirius)...
Commentary...
I met Joe Namath when I took a tape recorder to his Upper East Side penthouse to tape Joe disguising his voice for a "Mister X" mystery contest. The first thing I noticed on entering his apartment was the regulation size pool table he had. Along with chewing grape Bazooka bubble gum before every Jet game, playing pool was one of his passions. We know what his other passions were, don't we ?
I was introduced to Joe by Namath's close friend, Bob Skaff and have a picture and autographed football to prove it. I also met Joe's father at the Diamond Club at Shea Stadium, the home of the Jets back then. One of Joe's hangouts, when he wasn't at "Bachelor 3's" was the "Tittle Tattle" on 1st Avenue. Joe always seemed to be just a "regular" Joe when I would happen to run into him. Never alone, he was always with an entourage of friends. His team, buying into his Super Bowl prediction became his entourage on the night of January 12, 1969 and brought the Jets their 1st and only Super Bowl win...
This is the 12th day of 2006 with 353 days left in the year but only 67 days remaining until Spring...
